Skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday, 23 January, was lavish in his praise for pacer Mohammed Shami, the fastest Indian to 100 ODI wickets, saying the injury-prone bowler is at his best in terms of fitness right now.
Shami, who delivered a man of the match-winning haul of 3/19 in the first ODI against New Zealand here, failed the 'Yo-Yo' fitness test last year and was also bogged down by some personal issues.
But putting all those troubles behind him, Shami reached the 100-wicket mark in his 56th game. On Wednesday, he dismissed openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro in the six overs he bowled.
Besides his injury woes, the 27-year-old Shami was troubled by allegations of domestic violence by his wife last year. He failed the 'Yo-Yo' fitness test ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June last year.
A 'Yo-Yo' test requires a player to sprint between two cones that are set 20 metres apart to the sound of a beep and is considered a reliable measure of an athlete's endurance and stamina.
Shami's comeback started in Australia, where he picked up 16 wickets in the Test series.
Speaking about India's eight-wicket win in Napier on Wednesday, Kohli said he was pleased with the all-round effort.
For India, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the most successful bowler, returning figures of 4/39 in 10 overs, while Yuzvendra Chahal and Kedar Jadhav shared three wickets among themselves.
The skipper also praised opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was unbeaten on 75 in the 156-run chase.
"Really important innings for Shikhar and we spoke during the sun break that he needed to finish the game to get some momentum. He is a dangerous player when in rhythm," Kohli said.
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